Test Drive Office 2007 easily without installing software!

The new Microsoft Office 2007 is almost ready for release. This complete overhaul of the Office application suite is sure to be welcomed and cursed by those that use it. While there are new features, the main advantage to the new Office system is the completely different user interface design.

This new design has been extensively researched by usability experts at Microsoft to deliver the ability to more easily use the powerful features that have always been in the software. This new approach to menus and options was designed to “deliver better results faster.” But, it will take a little getting used to.

The new interface is broken down into several new components. The first is called “ribbons.” The ribbon replaces the normal menu and toolbars. The ribbon is an organized set of tabs that are automatically displayed based on what you are currently doing at that moment and what you have selected in your document. According to Microsoft, “the tabs simplify accessing application features because they organize the commands in a way that corresponds directly to the tasks people perform in these applications.”

The next change is the addition of “contextual tabs.” These are tabs that are displayed when certain type objects in the document are being edited. For example, clicking on a chart, will cause a contextual tab to appear with the commands useful for chart editing.

Galleries are throughout all of the Office applications. These provide a set of results to choose from when working on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or databases. They simply the process of creating professional looking documents.

There are many more changes to the Office 2007. But talking about them isn’t as effective as actually trying them. Microsoft now has a very cool online method of test driving these applications right within your Internet Explorer browser. There’s no software to load, (other than a browser plugin), nothing to purchase, and it’s fast and easy. They even have online lessons you can go through to get the most out of the test drive experience. This is highly recommended for HLP clients since we know many of you will be upgrading to the new Office next year. This is a great “training” environment to get used to the new features!

You can get more information on Office 2007 at:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview

You can test drive the new Office 2007 system at:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx

Derek Rowan
President
HLP Associates, Inc.
www.hlp.net